


Heat

by tarachamblers



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/F, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-03
Updated: 2015-09-03
Packaged: 2018-04-16 12:15:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4624953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tarachamblers/pseuds/tarachamblers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: Imagine person B seeing person A in their swimsuit for the first time.</p><p>Miss Espinosa never had a bad word to say about Georgia summers again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heat

When Tobin was replaced by Abraham as the leader of Alexandria’s construction crew, projects sped up incredibly. The extension that was being worked on when Rick’s group arrived was completed in just under a month, adding a huge 40x40 feet area to the safe zone; some of it went to Olivia and some particularly green-thumbed Alexandrians to begin growing food inside the safe zone to take the strain off of supply runners like Tara and Glenn, and the rest was dedicated to a brand new project for some of Abraham’s crew to work on, scheduled to be finished by early-summer.

All through winter, Abraham and his crew slaved away through the falling snow and icy temperatures to dig a deep trench next to the garden that was being grown. Then it was filled with cement from the Mall development the walls were taken from, it was tiled by talented plumbers and connected to the exfiltration system and cisterns that Alexandria boasted and finally on the 7th of June, Alexandria’s swimming pool was officially open for public use.

It was actually Deanna’s idea–the hot weather in the summer was almost unbearable and water would need to be rationed carefully during those months due to higher need and consumption, plus it allowed for a place for friendships between residents to bloom and a place for people to relax when work was over for the day. It may even result in better hygiene if the water was chlorinated properly. Therefore, she believed opening an outdoor swimming pool within the walls ticked all of Alexandria’s boxes for the time being and she formally requested the construction team’s help.

And of course, naturally, the first person in the pool was Rosita Espinosa. The hot weather really did not agree with Miss Espinosa, which was why when it was hot she wore shorts and exposed her midriff. Heat made her cranky and short-tempered and generally made her uncomfortable; she’d never quite acclimatised to the heat of Georgia and living without AC. In fact, even before travelling there with Abraham and Eugene, she’d known of the notorious Georgia summers and vowed she’d never go back there after a terrible sunburn in Atlanta.

She dived into the cerulean water with near perfect form, barely rippling the surface as she entered. The water was refreshing, heated by the blistering temperature but still cooler than the air. Opening her eyes underneath the water, Rosita’s head felt clearer than it had in weeks. It was as though as wave of clarity had washed over her. When she felt her fingertips press against the tiles of the bottom of the pool, she pushed herself up. Her legs replaced her fingers as she 180’d and with one strong kick she propelled up to break the surface.

The moment her ears breached the waterline, applause from the Alexandrians surrounding the pool in their swimwear began to fill the air; the happiest sound Rosita had heard in a long while. Everyone suddenly flurried towards the pool, leaping into it and soon Rosita was one of dozens floating merrily in crystal blue waters. She swam breaststroke to the edge of the pool, pulling herself out and perching herself on the concrete edge of the pool, her legs dangling beneath the water.

Already it began to evaporate into moisture off of her and what was left of it ran downwards over the gooseflesh from the cool water. It was like diamonds on her skin, drying faster than she could capture the moment. A clumsy figure moved over to her with heavy feet and offered her a large hand. “I must say, Miss Espinosa, that was by far the most expert entry into a man-made container of water I have ever seen with my own two oculars.”

Rosita gave a breathy laugh, shaking her head from side to side and gently pushing her dripping hair over her shoulder. “Flatterer.” she says through a toothy grin. Eugene drops loudly to the ground next to her, pulling himself forward and dangling his own hairy, thick calves into the water.

She spread out her toes, letting the water between them. She fell back on her elbows and let the sun beat down on her; feeling better than it ever did now that she’d taken a dunk in the pool. Her fingers ran over her limbs and up the middle of her chest and around to the back of her neck, drunk from the sensation.

“Chambler at six o’clock.” Eugene monotonically stated, causing Rosita to turn her head.

Tara was timidly moving towards the pool in a shirt and jeans. Her eyes were uncharacteristically bulging out of her head. Rosita raised a wet arm, waving it back and forth to beckon Tara over to where they sat.

Anxiety physically melted off of Tara as she scurried over, sitting down next to Rosita at the pool edge. Unlike the other two, she didn’t dip her feet into the water and instead drew her legs up to her chest. “I didn’t see you guys until you waved. Thank God you did.”

Rosita was about to respond when a ginger flop of hair emerged from the water near her; attached to it was Sgt. Ford. He surfaced between Eugene’s legs, putting one arm on the ledge between them. “Family reunion, huh? Was I not invited?” he asked, cockily raising the corner of his mouth in a half-smile.

“There was no formal invitation extended in regards to meeting at the pool. As a matter of a fact, it was spontaneous.” Eugene responded. Abraham laughed to indulge him. He husked something along the lines of, “C’mon, dummy.” and Eugene was pulled into the water by one muscular arm. The two swam away into the mob of Alexandrians a few seconds later.

Tara remained in the same position, clearly uncomfortable. Rosita stood up, grabbing a towel from a nearby deck chair and wrapping it around her. She tapped Tara on the shoulder, snapping her out of her trance. “Let’s get out of here.” Rosita said, with the same cheeky half-smile Abraham had used on Eugene moments ago. A grin broke through Tara’s sulk and she stood up too. The two walked away from the pool together, over to a bench that had been erected near the pond behind the Infirmary.

The moment the two had sat down on the immaculate white bench, Rosita asked, “Are you alright?” full of concern for her friend. Tara shrugged, accented with a deep breath. Her face dripped with guilt or anxiety or discomfort; perhaps even a mixture of all those emotions. Tara looked up at Rosita with a stone-cold, serious expression--even more uncharacteristic than being out of place by the poolside. Tara was goofy and may be awkward around new people, but that melted away quickly.

“If I tell you something, you have to promise never to tell another living soul in the whole world for as long as you live, alright?” said Tara. Rosita gave one assertive nod; this was clearly serious. She reached forward, taking Tara’s hand in her own, and resting the two between them on the bench. Her thumb rubbed against the top of Tara’s hand and she appeared to soften further, “I never learned how to swim.”

Rosita pulled Tara forward into a tight embrace. Her arms linked around the base of Tara’s back and she pressed her face into Tara’s collar. The scent of stale deodorant and fabric softener filled Rosita’s nose and she hugged tighter. “It’s okay, babe. That’s fine.” she comforted. When the two separated, Tara was smiling sadly.

“It’s just the whole pool thing–everyone’s so excited and all and I don’t know if I’m right to feel jealous." she said, stumbling over herself. Tara paused, then she added, "I feel bad because I can’t enjoy it with all of you." Rosita gave soft nods whenever it felt right. This clearly affected Tara pretty badly; her confidence seemed dented back at the pool and even here with her best friend she couldn’t keep eye contact.

“Look, tell you what. Come back to mine and I’ll lend you a swimsuit and we can sit by the pool. You don’t need to go in to enjoy it, girl.” Rosita smiled. Tara looked up and held eye contact with Rosita for a good few seconds before shaking her head in agreement. A smile trickled over her face too and a soft laugh escaped from both of them.

-

“This might be your size.” Rosita said, pulling out a blue tankini with white polka dots that was a few dress sizes too big for her slender frame. She had covered herself with a loose pink dress now that she was back in her house as she rifled through drawers. Tara sat on the bed, looking around her room with wide eyes. It’d been a few months since she’d been in Rosita’s bedroom and it’d changed a lot. New wallpaper, a few band posters that Rosita must have liked before everything happened, a vase with a single white lily.

Tara eyed the swimwear carefully. It looked nice enough. “Do you have somewhere I can get changed?” she asked. 

Rosita shook her head, “I’ll just turn around, if that’s alright with you?” she responded. Tara grunted consent and Rosita turned away, looking through her drawers to keep her busy while her friend changed behind her. She heard a zipper be undone and Tara pull off her jeans, followed by the unbuttoning of a plaid shirt and the unclasping of a bra. An eternity was spent in Rosita pretending to be interested in the contents of her storage.

“How do I look?”

Rosita turned around.

The light from outside bathed Tara’s body like a divine angel's. The swimwear hugged her body like she was born to wear it; her words questioning her beauty when it was so damn obvious. When she turned from side to side, jutting out one hip and pouting her lips, Rosita’s breath was stolen from her lungs like she’d been kicked in the chest. All she wanted to do for the rest of her life was stare at this gorgeous woman in front of her.

Rosita must have stood there staring with her mouth hanging open for longer than she thought she had because Tara moved forward out of the light and mock rapped her knuckles against Rosita’s forehead, “Yoohoo! Earth to Espinosa?”

All of Rosita’s thoughts came tumbling out at once as she spluttered, tripping over herself. A blood rush creeped through her cheeks so hot it rivaled the sun she despises, except this blush didn’t make her unhappy or uncomfortable. It filled her with a warmth that made her think her veins had turned to gold; it was heavy and hot and uncomfortable in the best way and even though she was barely wearing anything she felt the need to strip off.

“Y-you look, uh, very, um, yeah. Yes. Definitely.” she nodded so hard her head might fall off of her shoulders. A grin burst across Tara’s face that radiated more of that feeling Rosita had that was beginning to settle on the left side of her chest and across her cheekbones. She shook her head from side to side and playfully jabbed Rosita in the arm. Rosita felt totally overcome and overwhelmed with a feeling she couldn’t quite put into words.

“Aw, shucks. You know, if I look that good the–” Tara was cut off by a pair of steaming hot lips pressed against her mouth, glowing warm hands against either side of her face, a burning tongue beginning to slide over her own and sizzling skin brushing against her cool flesh; goosebumps bursting everywhere Rosita touched.

They broke apart after several seconds of heated kissing on Rosita’s part and floundering on Tara’s. The latter began to fret, “Oh, Jesus. Oh, man. Fuck. I’m sorry,” as though this was something bad and something her fault. Rosita silenced her with a manicured finger to her lips that still roasted from Rosita’s own. Realization began to register with Tara Chambler that maybe this wasn’t something bad and definitely it wasn’t her own fault. She tested the waters carefully by pushing her lips back into a pout quickly; kissing the tip of her best friend’s finger.

“Is… is this okay?” she whispered.

Rosita answered the question with another kiss and heat budded through their chests, growing rapidly like jungle vines originating at the heart and spreading across their whole bodies.

After that, Miss Espinosa never had a bad word to say about Georgia summers again.


End file.
